Author's Note: I don't know why, but I just got a sudden inspiration to write this piece about my favorite shoujo-ai couple in Inuyasha, KannaRin.
Please enjoy! Read and review!
Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha in any way. You wouldn't recognize the series at all by the time I got through with it. (Yay for fandom.)
Someone
Kanna sat amongst the bushes. It didn't hide her very well; her ghostly pale skin and hair provided as much camouflage as a neon sign. But then again, it was easy for her to hide. She was created from nothing, she felt nothing, and she thought nothing. Therefore, to everybody else, nothing was there.
Her master still needed to absorb Sesshomaru's power; this time, he was strong enough and would not fail. All she had to do was steal his soul, but that would not be easy. The taiyoukai was the strongest living demon in the area. Somehow she had to figure out a way to trick him into gazing deeply into her mirror. Although she knew the demon was very vain about his appearance, she knew that he could hardly be considered stupid.
"Hello!"
The grass parted, startling the pale demon, though she had no ability to show it. Suddenly, the smiling face of a young girl was thrust eagerly in front of her. It was that girl who always followed Sesshomaru, no matter where he went. Perhaps she could use her in some way to carry out her master's orders.
"What are you doing in there? Why are you so white? Would you like to play?" The girl yammered out in one breath.
Perhaps she might be able to use this girl's unnatural curiosity to reign in her lordly prey. Kanna just stared at her enemy's ward with empty eyes.
"Hi! I'm Rin!" The girl chattered. "You don't talk much do you? Well that's ok. I didn't used to talk either, but now I do. What's your name?"
Kanna was astounded at the controlled exuberance of the girl. She had so much energy behind the voice, she was surprised that the tiny human body could stand still long enough to speak a single sentence. And that wasn't all. Rin just kept talking. The wind stored in her lungs would make Kagura jealous if the wind sorceress ever found out.
" If you don't want to tell me your name, I understand. Sometimes it just takes a friend to make you feel better. That's when I started to talk. Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken-sama are my best friends even if they pretend not to be sometimes, they are so funny." Now the girl began to examine a rock that she found at her feet, but set it down after she found it to be ordinary.
"Rin! Riiiin!" A hoarse voice called.
Jaken came waddling up the trail as fast as he could. Kanna knew that he would recognize her, so she silently backed away behind a rock. As long as she stayed out of sight, Jaken would never realize she was there. She had no youki, no jaki, and left behind no scent. Nothing was there and nothing had ever been there.
"Who have you been talking to, child?" He huffed.
"My friend," she answered. "I don't know her name though. She doesn't say a lot."
Rin gestured to the spot where Kanna had been, but she did not turn around to see the girl missing. Jaken looked at the space between the bushes quizzically and shook his head. Perhaps it was just as well that Rin had made an invisible friend. Maybe then he could get some peace if she spent her time with the made up creature instead of harassing him.
"Alright," he said, turning around to check on the status of his lord. "Just make sure that she doesn't get you or me in trouble with Lord Sesshomaru."
"Don't worry. Rin will behave!" The girl waved at him before returning to her new found friend, but Kanna was long gone.
"Hello? Hello?" She asked the bushes. Rin sighed when no one answered. "That's ok. I understand if you are busy. Goodbye! I hope to see you again!"
In the depths of her mirror, Kanna watched the baffled little girl run back her campsite. If her face muscles could be used to show any more movement other than what was required to talk, she was sure that she would have an amused smile.
The next morning, Kanna awoke to the strangest thoughts. She wondered why Rin had been so genuinely interested in what she had to say. Of course, what she had to say was nothing, but still, it was the thought that counted. She wondered why she had not stolen the girl's soul right away, or at least used her lure her imp youkai guardian into the mirror. Kanna was sure that he knew many secrets about the stoic silver dog youkai. She also wondered why the girl wanted to see her at some other time.
Kanna looked into her mirror, willing it to show her what Rin was doing. The little girl was in a field of flowers, picking whichever blossoms caught her eye. She already held an arm full of red, blue, purple, and yellow ones and was now stooped to snatch up a pink bloom. She was such a simple minded little thing. The youkai put away her bone studded mirror and continued once more towards Sesshomaru's resting place.
Kanna passed the spot where she had met Rin the first time. She paused and looked at it and picked up the tiny rock that Rin had left behind on the ground, turning it over and over in her hand. Why was she so curious about this girl? Hell, with all the questions it made her ask, Kanna felt as if Rin had invaded some part of her brain. It must be all right though, Kanna reasoned. Nothing can think about something for at least part of the time.
Again, Kanna felt the strange urge to look into the mirror. She had to know what Rin was doing. Whatever it was had to be much more interesting than lying in wait for Naraku's plans to completely hatch. She served her master diligently, though he did have some personal problems. Kanna knew of people who cross dressed for fun or to better show the truth of themselves, but to her, cross dressing across the boundaries of species was something entirely different.
Kanna pulled the mirror out from under her arm, gazing into its pristine surface once more. She saw Rin holding two pink flowers in one hand and the other hand was reaching out to tap...
"There you are. Hello again! I hope you remember me. I picked you some flowers. I hope you like pink." Rin's speech exploded like a burst balloon the moment that her tiny fingers tapped Kanna's shoulder.
Kanna hid the mirror at her side. "I do," she allowed herself to say quietly. "I do like pink."
At the sound of Kanna's voice, Rin's eyes sparkled. "I'm glad. So do I! I wanted to get a pink kimono but Sesshomaru-sama didn't get me one. But that's ok though. I like Sesshomaru-sama. He is so cool. You should watch him fight. He's got this whip thing that shoots out from between his fingers and he's got a sword that can destroy people just by pointing it at them."
Kanna jumped as Rin dug her hands into her pure white hair. She was so warm to the touch and was surprisingly gentle for the unsteady hands of a young human. The hair swung into her face as the flowers that pinned them up were removed. Rin replaced the pink ones into the spaces where the plain white ones had been.
"There," Rin said. "Now you look a little happier. Won't you smile? Rin wants to cheer you up."
Kanna was taken aback. Who was this child?
"Please? I didn't smile for a long time because I was sad. But then I made friends with Sesshomaru-sama and he made me smile. When my friends are sad it makes me sad," Rin pouted.
"I can try," Kanna whispered. "I have never smiled before."
"Never!?" Rin was flabbergasted. She could hardly go for five minutes without smiling at someone. This poor girl had to be so sad. Now Rin was determined to be her friend.
Kanna strained to pull her facial muscles into any contortion besides her usual deadpan. The twisting and curling felt so awkward, almost painful. She was sure that she looked ridiculous, but now she was really curious if she even could smile.
It wasn't much, but the right corner of her mouth bent upwards slightly. "You did it! You did it!" Rin exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.
If Kanna had a fluid that passed for blood, she would have blushed.
"Rin!" Kanna heard Jaken's voice call out once again. "Rin! The master wants to talk to you. Don't make me come after you, you ungrateful child."
"Coming!" She answered him. Rin bowed quickly to Kanna. "Sorry. I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow."
Kanna nodded her head. "Kanna," she spoke as the girl turned around to run down the path.
Rin stopped and tilted her head as she faced the youkai once again. "What?"
"My name is Kanna." The white demon swallowed, trying to restore wetness to her dry throat. "Just don't tell anyone."
Rin smiled, sunshine breaking across her face. Abruptly, Kanna felt as if her insides were going to be squeezed out. Rin had threw her arms around her as tight as she could and was embracing her with all of her might. Kanna tentatively wrapped her own arms around the little girl, mirroring the gesture as closely as she could. This show of affection was so unlike anything she had ever experienced. However, it felt so good. It made her feel like someone.
As quickly as she had pounced upon Kanna, she let go. "Don't worry. Nobody will know but me. I know how hard it is to talk sometimes," Rin said. "But now that you have, we can talk again tomorrow. Bye!"
Rin waved and ran down to where the rest of her party was. Dust rose from her feet as they disturbed the steady earth.
Kanna once again pulled out the mirror, this time to look at herself. Rin was right. The pink flowers on either side of her face made the slightest hint of pink show at the apples of her cheeks. Once more Kanna fought with her straining frown. She was so curious as to what she had looked like when she had smiled, even if it was just a little one. Kanna had made Rin so happy with that one little gesture. Was it really that important?
Finally, the muscles gave in to her willpower, tipping the corners upward just a little ways. She stared at her reflection, her mind not believing what her eyes were seeing.
Now she understood.
Kanna pulled out the mirror off and on the next day. This feeling she had was so weird. Every time she thought about Rin, she felt the urge to smile, even though until this time in her life, she had never once possessed this ability. She had to practice this smile so that she could see Rin's smile. In fact, Kanna was a little jealous of how beautiful Rin looked when she let her happiness shine through.
"What'cha doing?" Rin's familiar voice questioned.
"Nothing. Just looking in my mirror. That's all," Kanna answered. Quickly, she tucked it into the sleeve of her kimono.
Rin's eyes grew round. "Oooh! I see. That's your mirror. Is that why you are so pretty?"
Kanna felt her heart skip a beat. "What?"
Rin grabbed her hand innocently. "It's ok to be pretty. I've thought you were pretty since the first time I saw you. Your skin is so fair and your hair is so light, it reminded me of Sesshomaru-sama. He's pretty too and he doesn't smile or talk much either. I think you would like him."
Kanna felt a slight sense of panic slice through her at the mention of Sesshomaru's name. Of course, nobody noticed her reaction, because of course, she had none.
Rin reached for the mirror. "Now I know how you stay so pretty, you've got a mirror! Sesshomaru's a demon so he doesn't need one to stay pretty. Me, I get mud all over myself when I play, my hair gets tangled in the wind and I get grass stains on my kimono. Jaken gets mad when I do that because he has to wash it and then he makes me take a bath."
Kanna moved the mirror away from Rin's reach. Naraku would probably kill her for this, but then again, Naraku would kill her one day anyways. Without even thinking, and at the hands of his enemy's charge, Kanna had become something. But to Naraku, only nothing was to be trusted.
"You don't want to look in this mirror. If you look into it, you will become ugly," Kanna's voice was still quiet, but it had a hard edge to it that she had never heard before. Did she dare say that she liked it?
Rin laughed. "What an outrageous thing to say. What do you mean?"
Kanna smiled just as she had practiced time and time again. This time, she could even feel the skin around her eyes crinkling into little rays. After tucking the mirror into its protective pocket in the sleeve of her kimono, she reached out and took Rin's other hand.
"Rin, you don't need that mirror. You look beautiful to me." Kanna rubbed the pads of her thumbs over the ridges of Rin's knuckles.
Rin squeezed Kanna's hands back. The joy that radiated from the girl illuminated the entire forest.
"Will you play with me?" Rin asked. "I like you."
With those words, a surge of warmth flooded Kanna's body again. She kind of enjoyed being something.
"Yes. I will."
"Good!"
That night, Kanna promised Rin that one day she would join her with Sesshomaru and Jaken, only with a slight stipulation. There was just something that she had to take care of. Perhaps if she explained her situation to Sesshomaru, he would have a solution in her newfound need to leave Naraku. Even if he did not, she would not be able to carry out her missions any longer.
In the moonlight, as pale and ethereal as herself, Kanna found a jagged stone that jutted out as if to call her name. She smashed the mirror against the sharp edge, the shards splintering onto the ground around her like ice. If it was bad luck to break an ordinary mirror, she did not know, or really even care what breaking this one would do. Kanna smiled. Nothing became Something. Now Something became Someone.